Question #3 of 10 of Ten Questions to Know Someone: If you had unlimited power, what would you do to change the world?

My answer to this question is much harder than I thought it would be. I’m passionate about so many causes, the environment, social justice, peace. The list is long and I immediately wonder if one person, even with infinite power, could really do it all single handedly. For change to stick, it requires the agreement and cooperation of many people, organizations, businesses, and governments. Massive, worldwide change does happen, though, when an idea takes hold of people’s imagination. Behavior that was once acceptable becomes unthinkable. Solutions appear where once their we’re only problems.

The idea that I keep returning to is to help children who are at risk. Children living in poverty, children who are abused, children who are forgotten. These precious ones are the world’s most valuable resource. They are tough and resilient and are the source of the solutions to the problems they face. A lot has been done by adults to solve the big problems, like poverty and war, but has anyone really asked the children who are living it what can be done? If they have asked, has anything been done? My guess would be no.

We all too quickly dismiss the ideas our children have and arrogantly assume that we have all the answers. We jump to the conclusion that because their language is simpler and they are small that they couldn’t possibly know what the world problems are, much less know how to fix them. But I’m convinced that children are more clear, more in tune, and more wise than most adults truly understand.

So I guess I would ask the world’s children what they would do to change the world, and then I would do it.